Criticism of the theory of descent when Adammund Leach - research in social anthropology

Abstract

Anthropologists are interested in studying kinship systems because these systems are found in every culture, and because the kinship system in a society somehow explains all other aspects of culture, such as politics, religion, worldview, marriage practices, economic behavior, etc., given the prevalence and surprisingly small extent of diversity in kinship systems across cultures, and because kinship systems are easily accessible for study in most cultures, such studies seem to offer, perhaps more than some other fields of study in anthropology, an opportunity to say something universal about humanity kinship.